Bell housing



Aug. 14, 1951 F. B. MARTIN, JR

BELL HOUSING Filed NOV. 18, 1946 0 I I r a I Patented Aug. 14, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BELL HOUSING Frank B. Martin, Jr., Pensacola, Fla. Application November 18, 1946, Serial No. 710,540

3 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in bell housings, more specifically, to hell housings such as commonly employed on Chevrolet automobiles for enclosing the universal joint.

Such bell housings usually co-act in a slidable telescopic manner with the forward end portion of the drive shaft housing or tube, and after the telescoped parts have become worn, there follows a development of considerable play accompanied by vibration, rattling noise, and the leakage of lubricating oil from the bell housing.

It is, therefore, the principal objectof the invention to eliminate the above disadvantages by providing a device of the character herein described which embodies in its construction means for adjusting the telescoped members and thereby absorbing the play resulting from wear.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bell housing which is simple in construction and the adjustment of which may be easily and conveniently performed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bell housing which, by eliminating vibration. will considerably prolong the life of the transmission line as a whole.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a bell housing which will readily lend itself to economical manufacture and which may be easily disassembled for purposes of inspection or repair.

With the above more important objects in view, and such other objects as may become apparent as this specification proceeds. the invention consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view thereof.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 3-3 in Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the housing member with the associated neck, used in the invention.

Like characters of reference are used to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention consists of a bell hous ing designated generally by the reference character I 0, the same embodying in its construction a hollow, substantially semi-spherical housing member II which is of a more-or-less conp2 ventional design and constitutes a component of the universal joint enclosure II.

The member H is formed integrally with a nut portion II and with a tubular neck ll, the rear end portion of' this neck being provided with a rearwardly tapered outer surface II; The tapered portion ll of the neck is also provided with a substantially T-shaped slot I. the central, longitudinal stem of the T extending to the rear edge of the neck, as will be clearly apparent frem the accompanying Figure 4. It will be also observed that the transverse arms of the T are extended rearwardly as at H, parallel to the central, longitudinal stem.

The forward end portion of the neck I4 is provided with an external screw thread II, this engaging a co-acting internal thread portion l9 formed in an adjustable collar 2|.

The collar 2g is formed with a nut portion 24 and with an internal, bevelled shoulder 22. This shoulder engages the aforementioned tapered surface ii of the neck I4. and the function thereof will be hereinafter more fully explained.

The rear end portion of the collar II is externally threaded as at 23 to receive an internally threaded retainer 24. The latter is provided with an inturned flange II and a plurality of annular oil seals 26 are positioned between this flange and the rear edge 21 of the sleeve '2', as is best shown in Figure 2.

The conventional drive shaft housing or tube 28 passes through the oil seals I6 and is slldably receivable in the bore of the 'neck Id. The sliding movement of the tube is, ofcourse, produced by the rising and falling movement of the drive wheels, the drive to the latter being transmitted through the medium of a suitable shaft rotatably positioned in the tube II.

When the invention is placed in use, the sliding movement of the tube 2l telescoped in the neck II will, in time, result in considerable wear of the two parts, which in turn, would normally be followed by a development of play, vibration, noise and the leakage of lubricating oil from the housing member ll past the oil seals 26.

However, in a device constructed in accordance with the present invention, the play resulting -from wear may be readily absorbed by simply rotating the collar It so as to draw the shoulder 22 forwardly along the tapered surface II. It will be noted that in this manner, the slotted portionoi'theneckwiilbeclampedsotospcsk, against the tube II and the play will thus be progressively eliminated in accordance with the W881.

It is believed that the advantages and use 01' the invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is considered unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention'as claimed.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a vehicle propeller shaft assembly, the combination of a universal joint housing member, a substantially tubular neck formed integrally with said housing member, said neck having a screw-threaded intermediate portion and a tapered outer end portion, a drive shaft housing having an end portion thereof slidable in said neck, a screw-threaded clamping sleeve positioned on said neck and operatively engaging the screw-threaded portion of the latter, the tapered outer end portion of said neck being formed with an open ended slot, and a bevelled shoulder provided in said sleeve, said shoulder being engageahle with the tapered and slotted portion of said neck, whereby the latter may be caused to frictionally engage said drive shaft housing.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 together with an oil seal provided on said sleeve and trictionally engaging said drive shaft.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said slot includes a longitudinal portion having an open end at the outer end of said neck and extending inwardly therefrom, a transverse portion communicating intermediate its ends with the inner end of said longitudinal portion, and terminal portions at the ends of said transverse portion, said terminal portions being substantially parallel to said longitudinal portion and extending in the direction of the outer end of said neck.

FRANK B. MARTIN, Ja.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,131,399 McGinley Mar. 9, 1915 1,774,226 Chettick Aug. 26, 1930 2,246,557 Walters June 24 1941 

